Folding boat



(No Model.)

T. L. STURTBVANT. Folding Boat.

No. 231,117. Patented Aug.-10,- 1880.

fur/6212 0;

UNITED STATES PATENT Gr mes.

THOMAS L. STURTEVANT, OF SOUTH FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING BOAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,117, dated August 10, 1880.

Application filed April 24, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known thatl, THOMAS L. STURTEVANT, of South Framingham, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Boats, of which the following is a specification.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a light, strong, and serviceable boat, mainly for sportsmens use, which shall be susceptible of being folded or contracted into very small compass in order to be easily transported from place to place and my invention consists in a boat having its sides or side and ends of wood or other proper stiff material, and its bottom of canvas or other suitable woven or fibrous substance, this bottom serving to connect the sides or side and ends, and enabling the whole boat to be instantly and easily folded into the smallest possible compass.

In the accompanying drawings I shall represent a boat made in accordance with my invention in one form in which its principle is capable of being illustrated.

In these drawings, Figure 1 denotes an isometric elevation, and Fig. 2 a crosssection, of a boat made in accordance with my invention, the boat being open or expanded in Fig. l and folded in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows, in isometric, a modified form of boat. Figs. 4 and 5 show, in isometric, a float containing my invention.

In said drawings, A A represent the sides of the boat, being straight boards of pine or other suitable material joined or hinged at their ends, so as to be readily spread apartat their centers. The bottom B of the boat is composed of canvas or other suitable woven or fibrous material, tacked, cemented, or otherwise secured to the outer surface of the lower edges of the sides with a water-tight joint, and this bottom is preferably rendered waterproof in some suitable manner.

In use the sides of the boat are to be spread apart until the bottom is stretched taut, and athwart or cross-tie is then introduced between them to retain them in a distended state, or one or more boards may be extended from side to side and extending from top to bottom (No model.)

of the sides to distend the latter, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The distension or separation of the sides, in addition to stretching the bottom of the boat, imparts great longitudinal and lateral stiifness and strength to the boat.

Various methods may be employed for connecting the ends of the sides A A. They may be connected by bolts passing through each or by a hinge of suitable construction, or as shown in the accompanying drawings. The canvas which composes the bottom may be carried about them.

Alone the canvas bottom would not possess sufficient rigidity, and would be liable to injury, since the water is displaced only at the immediate spot at which the pressure is dirooted to avoid which Iemploy a board, which is laid upon and partially covering the canvas bottom when the boat is in use; or a false bottom, covering the entire surface of the canvas, may be used, and, if found desirable or necessary, this bottom may be in two parts hinged at the middle, in order to fold into small compass.

In Fig. 3 of the drawings the boat is pointed at one end, with a square stern, (J. The canvas which composes the bottom is extended partially up the sides and secured thereto, as before stated, and it should be carried entirely over the stern, though this, perhaps, is not absolutely essential.

The stern-piece 0 may be in one piece and hinged at one end to the side, as shown in Fig. 3; or it may be in two pieces hinged together in the middle and hinged at each end to the adjacent side, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, in either of which cases the stern folds inward when the boat is collapsed. If in one piece its free end is to be provided with a bolt or other suitable device for locking it to the side where the boat is distended. If in two pieces a similar device is to be combined with its central point to obtain longitudinal stiffness of the stern.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings I have shown a sportmans float containing my invention. In this instance the ends are in two pieces, hinged or. jointed at their inner ends by suitable means, and with their outer ends hinged to the adjacent ends of the respective sides. When the float is collapsed these ends fold inward, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, though they may be hinged upon the inside and fold outward. The thwart in this case is a board, E, hinged at one end to the inside of one of the sides A and about centrally of the latter, the length of this thwart being such that when extended laterally of the boat it shall crowd the sides apart to provide the requisite width of beam and distend the sides at the center. When the float is contracted the thwart folds alongside of the side to which it is hinged. (See Fig. 5.)

The sides may be hinged in the middle and provided with a bolt or other means of securely locking them together and breaking the joint, in order not to impair their longitudinal stiffness, the object in dividing the sides being to reduce the length of the boat one-half when folded. This, however, would hardly be neces sary owing to the small compass in which the boat folds.

In lieu of a bottom of duck or other woven or fibrous material,'tl1e skins of animals tanned in a manner to resist the hardening or stiffenin g action of water may be employed; or rubber cloth, such as is used. for many purposes in the arts, may be employed.

In lieu of wood for the sides, tin or other light sheet metal may be brought into requisition; but the employment of metal sides, if sufliciently thick to obtain the requisite stiffness, would entail great weight as well as expense.

I claim A folding boat having sides of wood or equivalent stiff bendable material, a bottom of pliable water-proof material, which connects the sides, and one or more movable crossbraces or thwarts, which serve to hold the sides apart and to distend the bottom, as shown and described.

THOS. L. STURTEVANT.

Witnesses:

H. E. LODGE, T. H. BLAIR. 

